The thesis makes a contribution to the study of the history of modern Scotland, and examines
the history of an ethno-religious community in Scotland's capital. It also adds to British-Jewish
historiography. The study commences with a brief outline of the origins of Edinburgh
Jewry, before proceeding to an account beginning with the arrival of thousands of Jewish
immigrants in the latter half of the nineteenth-century, and concluding with the decline of the
community which marked the period after the Second World War. The thesis has three main
aims: firstly, it seeks to illuminate the circumstances in which Jewish immigrants to the city
found themselves in the period 1880-1914; secondly, it aims to explore the manner in which
this community adapted and integrated into Edinburgh society in the following decades; and
thirdly, it seeks to evaluate the nature of Jewish/non-Jewish interactions throughout the
period under discussion. While the focus of the study is to a large extent 'local,' it is intended
that the national and international connections of the community under study do not go
unacknowledged.
The thesis proceeds in a largely chronological format. A strong thematic element will
also be apparent, broaching such topics as: Jewish economic activity, education and social
mobility, religion and culture, and issues of assimilation and acculturation. The majority of
the thesis is concerned with a period spanning some 70 years, during which time there was
mass emigration from Russia, technological advancement in transport and in all walks of life,
two world wars, and genocide targeting Europe's Jews. It is necessary, therefore, to
incorporate these events in a manner relevant to the study. The thesis uses a wide variety of
source material, including a broad range of primary sources to argue that, like its counterparts
across Britain, from its genesis Edinburgh's immigrant Jewish community was engaged in a
struggle both to integrate and to maintain its distinctiveness. It will be argued that in many
respects the Edinburgh Jewish experience bears great similarities to broader trends in British
Jewry. It will also be argued that the story of Edinburgh's Jews is to some extent unique.